magician in town

Chapter 685 Tolerance
They were silent for a moment, then Chu Jin asked thoughtfully, "Why did Luo Qi become so crazy? Do you have any thoughts on this?"

“Ultimately, it was his life experiences that shaped his worldview. Roach was inherently kind, and he was never fragile. I witnessed it firsthand; even after experiencing much injustice, he maintained his inner purity. I think Roach was a very idealistic and kind person. So he shouldn't have ended up like this.” Du Zhengyi paused. “The key factor that triggered his dramatic change was probably the unfortunate early death of his wife. In the future, he should have met a wonderful human being, and as his father wished, he united with a human and belonged to human society. But later, the mage destroyed everything, and his wife probably died in the chaos caused by the mage. It's even possible that what actually happened was darker; he was a mage who chose a human partner, and the Lotus Burner may have punished his wife for it.”

Chu Jin's face turned pale, and for a long time she stared blankly out the window, unable to speak.

Du Zhengyi waited a while, then continued, "If I were to evaluate that Roach, his most prominent characteristic would be—complexity."

Chu Jin looked at Du Zhengyi questioningly.

“If I were him, the first thing I would do upon traveling through time would be to kill all the Lotus Burners and find my lover before this Roach,” Du Zhengyi said.

“Indeed.” Chu Jin nodded. “This is the simplest and most direct way to handle it.”

"But he chose to use the alias 'Clownfish' to infiltrate the Lotus Burners. I think his hatred and his ambitions were far greater and farther-reaching than those of ordinary people; it was probably not as simple as seeking revenge on a few people or winning back a lover. He harbored a deep hatred for the magical world, yet at times he was also full of affection for individuals—at which point he became more like Roach than the clownfish. Before I knew he was Roach, I asked him to help me save Roach, and he agreed. Although he had his own purposes, at that time he truly seemed like a kind, ordinary person. A dozen days ago, in order to set a trap, he revealed his identity to me. But as I was dying, he told me that he wasn't Roach. The only reason I can think of for lying at the end was that he wanted me to die peacefully; he didn't want me to suffer mental torment as I died."

"He maintains the emotions of a normal person, but at the same time is exceptionally cruel," Chu Jin rationally summarized.

“He has a disability in one leg,” Du Zhengyi said. “Luo Qi once told me that he was tied to the railway tracks by the Lotus Burner apprentices at the school, and they wanted to run him over with a human train.”

He avoided Chu Jin's gaze, not wanting to see the pain on her face.

He continued, "Roach said he was saved by a passing mage. But given the number of mages we have, the probability of a random passing mage rescuing Roach from the tracks is extremely low."

"So it was Luo Qi who saved Luo Qi," Chu Jin said in a low voice.

"That should be the case. In the previous timeline, Roach's guardian, Rorian, was unable to save him for some reason. He was saved by humans, but due to the limitations of human medical capabilities, he completely lost a leg. I later recalled that Roach had reminisced about that point in time, and it's very likely that his father was trying to save him in Lonely Mountain. A disabled mage cannot survive in the magical world; his timeline was probably even more painful and difficult than this one. So he went back in time to save himself, perhaps because his lameness was indeed a knot in his heart. But this led to Rorian's indirect encounter with him, and then to Rorian and his wife refusing to break the seal on Roach's consciousness." Du Zheng sighed, "Ultimately leading to the collapse of Roach's mental dam."

“It seems my calculations weren’t so brilliant after all. I thought I could outmaneuver fate, but it turns out that destiny was just playing its hand against me,” Chu Jin said.

"If Roach cannot learn from his experience, is it possible for the Highland Mage to soothe Roach's mental state?"

“Highland mages share the spiritual world of the community, and this kid Roach is probably a bit more… cynical than the Highland mages. I think he can’t calmly accept the spiritual world of others.” Chu Jin said as tactfully as possible, “But your thinking is right. The Highland mages’ way of cultivation can at least bring peace, and peace will buy Roach time. In the end, for a mental mage who has a problem, the only person who can save him is himself.”

Du Zheng nodded. "If we can get in touch with him, I'd like to persuade him to return to the Highland Mage."

Chu Jin didn't answer him. She fell into deep thought, finally shaking her head gently. "I'm afraid a person's soul won't change much just because they've lost a leg, and the chain of cause and effect won't forgive them so easily. In my opinion, what Luo Qi is doing now is already quite insane. He hasn't completely crossed the line yet, probably because of your existence as the guardian of Lonely Mountain; he's been respecting your boundaries." Du Zheng understood her unspoken meaning. Rather than saving Luo Qi, he'd rather save himself. His time in this world was Luo Qi's effective time.

That feeling of helpless pain returned to his heart. If he had a way, he would do anything now. He surrendered, whether to fate or to Roach, he didn't know. He apologized for his past self, who had disregarded his own life and been smug all day long. He was willing to give everything, to live earnestly and diligently in this world. But he truly had no other way; he couldn't guarantee that he could hold on until the day Roach no longer needed him.

“I think there’s only one possibility that allows a person to maintain goodwill towards individuals while simultaneously killing them without any scruples,” Chu Jin suddenly said.

Du Zhengyi was somewhat surprised by the change in topic.

"Only when a person believes that he is working for something greater and more ambitious."

“This is the kind of person Roach hates the most. He calls them dictators and terrorists. I don’t think even if he were in another timeline, he would necessarily think he has the right to make arrangements for the entire mage world and the human world,” Du Zhengyi said.

"If you could freely travel through the river of time, what would you want to do?" Chu Jin asked.

Du Zhengyi didn't answer the question. Chu Jin shook his head, pondering, and said, "People always look for important time points to make changes. I think after Luo Qi discovered the secret of time, he tried time travel for the first time. He thought about it briefly and decided to go back to the day that caused his inner conflict, the day he lost his leg. He also happened to know that a chaotic battle would take place in Lonely Mountain that day, so he timed his entry to try and find an opportunity to plunder it. He was very good at dealing with mind-control mages, so he destroyed their array. Of course, the result was that he replaced those mages and clashed with you. However, because he didn't have a strong desire to kill, he didn't attack you as severely as the others, and you survived." He probably hadn't even gotten what he wanted most when Pei Shu appeared. He had no choice but to leave Lonely Mountain, but there was still enough time for him to save himself. When people travel through time, they often show no mercy to their other selves; this is one form of the time correction paradox. But Roach didn't kill himself; instead, he saved himself. I think it's very likely because he wanted to see another possibility for his life. It might be a secret wish, but it's understandable. He wanted to see what kind of life he would have if he were physically healthy and living a normal life in the mage world. I think he must have been very curious about you later; you were a friend he could never have had. I don't know how he viewed you when he saw you risking your life for Roach.

Du Zhengyi thought for a moment and said, "You're right. He kept mocking Luo Qi, and now that I think about it, it does seem like a kind of self-mockery."

“Zhengyi, you need to be careful, this point in time may not be his final destination,” Chu Jin said.

Du Zhengyi's heart sank.

“Perhaps you know why monks don’t record history,” Chu Jin said.

“Because for a mage, history is not history, but a coordinate,” Du Zhengyi said in a low voice.

"So one of the most important secrets of Lonely Mountain is its clear historical records and detailed time coordinates. I know this because fortune tellers often need historical data to calculate the future. Time travel requires a huge amount of magical energy, which means the energy of the entire world needs to accumulate to a certain level to support a single journey. Before the next time time travel becomes possible, what Roach wants most is a time coordinate that is most conducive to his goals. If his goal is not just to see another life of his own, or just to find his lover, then what he might want is to destroy the world of mages. This goal is big enough that the life and death of individual mages no longer matter, and he wouldn't care."

“Time will self-correct,” Du Zhengyi said, but then another possibility occurred to him. “Unless our time has already been altered, altered by a more far-sighted mage. Roach’s appearance is time’s self-correction. Perhaps Roach has always been right, and mages shouldn’t have been parasitizing the human world for so long.”

Chu Jin nodded, her face still pale. "Calculators can only observe, not effectively interfere with time. So why do calculators exist? Who do they serve? I've never been able to figure these things out. Maybe one day you will, because you are the one closest to the secret. Maybe one day you and Luo Qi will be able to escape, because compared to a sufficiently large time paradox, your individual lives are just a tiny error in time magic."

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